Quick question… ¿Cuántos años tienes? (How old are you?)
If you replied “soy x años”, using “ser” trying to follow the structure in English, then stay here because that’s a common mistake.
In this entry you’ll learn how to talk about your age in Spanish. This article is part of our podcast Speaking Spanish for Beginners, available on all major listening apps.
Don’t you use “ser” (to be) for age?
Well, no. In Spanish we use the verb “tener” to talk about age. We perceive age as something you possess. Thus, we use “tener” for expressing this idea.
Conjugation of verb “tener”
Yo tengo
Tú tienes
Él/ella/usted tiene
Nosotros(as) tenemos
Ustedes/ellos/ellas tienen
That’s why If you want to say, “I’m 32 years old” you have to say “yo tengo 32 años“
Asking People about Their Age
The question for asking about somebody’s age is the following:
¿Cuántos años tienes (tú)? (How old are you?).
Another variation of this question is ¿Qué edad tienes (tú)?
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Let’s practice
In the episode above, you can listen to a practice dialogue for Spanish Beginners. Try to listen by yourself without the transcript.
After you have done that, here you can see what was said in the audio and check if you understood most of it.
Dialogue
Marco: Jessica, ¿cuántos años tienes?
Jessica: Tengo 29 años, ¿y tú, Marco? ¿Qué edad tienes?
Marco: Tengo 28 años. ¿y tú hermana? ¿Cuántos años tiene tu hermana?
Jessica: Mi hermana tiene 20. Ella es más joven. ¿y tu amigo, José? ¿Cuántos años tiene
tu amigo?
Marco: Mi amigo tiene 40 años. Él es un poco más viejo.
